Gerry St. Germain (born November 6, 1937) is a Canadian politician.
St. Germain had various jobs prior to entering politics, working variously as a pilot, RCMP officer, building contractor and poultry farmer. Born in Manitoba, he moved to British Columbia. Germain was president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in the 1980s and was elected to a seat in the Canadian House of Commons through a by-election held on the same day in 1983 that Brian Mulroney was elected. In March 1988, St. Germain joined the Canadian Cabinet (the first Métis to do so) as Minister of State for Transport and was shifted later that year to Minister of State for forestry. He remained in cabinet until June 1993 when he was appointed to the Canadian Senate just prior to Mulroney's retirement as Prime Minister of Canada.
In 1998, while still a Progressive Conservative, St. Germain joined the United Alternative formed by Reform Party of Canada leader Preston Manning in an attempt to unite the right. In June 2000 he quit the PCs and in October 2000 became the new Canadian Alliance's first and only Senator. Since the Canadian Alliance formed the Official Opposition in the House of Commons, St. Germain argued that he should be the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Senate but his arguments were rejected by the Speaker as Progressive Conservative senators were more numerous. When the Progressive Conservatives and Canadian Alliance merged at the end of 2003, St. Germain became a senator for the Conservative Party of Canada.
St. Germain is considered a social conservative. As a staunch Roman Catholic he is anti-abortion and also opposed the passage of Bill C-250 that added homosexuals to the list of groups protected by hate crimes legislation .
Last updated: 10-10-2005 09:25:53